Keep up the good fight petecard. You and I remind me of The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash) when they invaded WCW back in the day. Everyone hated 'em and wanted to desperately fight and defeat them.

Unfortunately for the haters, the nWo took off and soon enough everyone wanted in to the elite club (even Hollywood Hogan). That's what will happen here soon enough as everyone realizes that we're right all along.

nWo 4 life because it's just too sweeeeeeeeet!!

Given the chance I'd throw any one of these haters up against a trailer much like Kevin Nash did to Ray Mysterio back in the day.

Who is responsible for the talent level on this team? If Gary did a great job (and he did) getting out of this team what he did, why did he have a team that is at this level of talent (or relative lack thereof)?

Do you really believe that the Terps won all the games they HAD to down the strech? Let's face it. They had to win the two games in Atlanta, but that may have been only because they couldn't win against WF at home and Virginia in their last road game. That last road loss was really atrocious.

Why should the pressure be off? Is it because it doesn't matter if they win a game in the tournament? If they lose, then aren't they just a bubble team that played like a bubble team?

Who is responsible for the talent level on this team? If Gary did a great job (and he did) getting out of this team what he did, why did he have a team that is at this level of talent (or relative lack thereof)?

Posted by: petecard | March 17, 2009 8:44 PM

Man Petetard, you just don't stop with the incredibly ill-informed comments do you?

Gus Gilchrist was a very highly sought-after big man who signed with the Terps last year. He practiced with the team, fit in well, and was set to be our starting center this year. Are you really that unaware of this? Shane Walker showed some nice flashes last year as a freshman, he was set to get major minutes this year. Both players transferred for their own reasons. Jerome Burney is a solid PF who has produced well whenever he's been on the court, unfortunately he's been beset by injury this year. Gary successfully recruited all 3 of these big men. Why is this so hard for you to comprehend? It's not like he's just ignoring the front court.

Last year James Gist and Bombale Osby were considered one of the best front courts in the ACC. Gary successfully recruited both of them. Again, why is this so hard for you to comprehend?

Are you really this uninformed or this all just an act? At this point I'm beginning to think it's not possible for someone to be this clueless about the team they claim they love.

We need to have options because many players just don't work out. Transferring for "their own reasons" simply says that they weren't the right fit...weren't the right recruits.

Posted by: petecard | March 17, 2009 10:03 PM

Hey Petecard, I'm sure you know how to recruit better than Gary Williams! In between visits to the psychiatric ward and the pharmacy to fill your prescriptions for crazy person pills, I'm sure you'd be way better at picking talent than a guy who won a national championship with unheralded recruits.

Man you really are a pyscho. No one on here is complaining about the Terps talent this week. We just made the NCAA tournament in a year when few expected it (especially you). Now you can't complain about us going to the NIT so instead you're back to complaining about our talent. What you really need to do--other than finding medical help for your insanity--is root for another team if you aren't happy with this one.

I am with petecard on this one! Barno-you need to layoff the drugs if you think Jerome Burney is a solid PF????? First of all-his basketball career is in jeopardy because his feet cannot handle the pounding on the floor two surgeries already in two years and secondly-his skills are very limited!! If Shane Walker was so good he would still be a terp-he is a mid-major player! Gist and Osby were good but not that good-Terps missed tourney last yr because both players struggled down the stretch!

"Nutcase," "psycho," "insane," "crazy," "lunatic," these are just a few of the words people on here have used to describe you and your endless complaints about this team and coach. You've got one defender on here who just showed up 2 days ago and his handle is Poopy McPoop!

Let me start my post with a novel idea - it's possible to recognize and critique weaknesses and flaws without deciding that the program is in shambles or GW needs to be fired. This is not a black and white issue.

Moving on to recruiting. To answer a previous question, the future for the Terps looks bright because:
1)they have two very solid big men coming in next year, with the possibility of adding Lance Stephenson or Terrell Vinson as well, and virtually all the current team will be back unless GV goes.
2)I am encouraged that GW seems to at least be more attentive to recruiting than in the past. He still seems very hesitant to engage on the AAU front, but I think that's partly understandable.
3)Regardless of this, there are very few coaches who are both good recruiters AND good game coaches, and if you have to choose, it's better to have a good game coach. GW's accomplishments are well established, even with the recent lean years. Look no further than the ACC to find highly touted coaches who are recruiting gurus but have accomplished little in the Big Dance - Leonard Hamilton, Paul Hewitt, and the newly relieved of his duties Dave Leitao, to name a few. Sorry, but I'd rather have someone like GW or Al Skinner who can really maximize the talent they have.

More recruiting thoughts for those of you who appreciate things like objective facts and evidence: RECRUITING IS A CRAPSHOOT. You have a handful of elite **cough**crooked**cough** coaches/programs who tend to get the top-level, 5* guys. But for everyone else, you can pretty much throw all the 3* and 4* guys into a hat and pick one at random, and you really don't know what you'll get over 3 or 4 years. I've actually researched this and my research verified the theory. This is a simplistic but valid explanation for why you have guys like Mike Jones, Travis Garrison, Danny Miller, etc. turn out to be mediocre or less than expected, while guys like Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter, and Joe Smith become elite players. You just don't really know what you're getting until you get it and work with it for a few years. It certainly does seem that GW thrives off of working with the less-touted, harder working guys.

But another angle - this team lacks talent in the low post, but we're not exactly a low major team in overall talent. If you like recruiting rankings (which is what most critics of the Terps cling to): Vasquez, Mosley, Hayes, Milbourne, and Tucker were all Top 100 recruits in the country, and Bowie and Dupree were in the Top 150 or so. That's 7 of our top 9 players. Gus Gilchrist was a very highly touted, Top 100 guy who just turned out to be flaky and transferred, and Dupree has been a bust, hence our frontcourt situation. So I would argue that we have imbalanced talent, but not a lack of talent. And hopefully next season's arrival of Jordan Williams and James Padgett (and maybe Stephenson or Vinson) will balance things out. I think (hope?) Dupree is going to transfer and open the door for his scholarship to be put to good use.

Jeremy76, thank you for two excellent posts. Recruiting is a crapshoot at the best of times. Even so, it seems like we're turning a corner with next year's class. Lots to be happy about.

Posted by: chrisoarr | March 18, 2009 10:39 AM

Never really needed to turn a corner, we've been fine all along. Class of 06/07 was a solid top 20 class: Vasquez, Hayes, Milbourne, Osby, Burney. Book is not out yet on Burney, but the other 4 have obviously been very solid for us. 07/08 class-- the book is REALLY not out on yet. Bowie and Tucker have both shown some very nice flashes, obviously Dupree has been a disappointment thus far but all hope is not lost... Gary's big men typically don't develop until their are upper classmen. He just needs minutes, but that'll come early next year. Also Shane Walker to me looked like a player, but got sick of playing being Osby and Gist and I guess he didn't realize they were graduating and transfered.